According to this article via ABC News, high lead levels were detected in four Mexican hot sauce brands which are available in the United States. While there is currently no safety standards assigned by the FDA for hot sauces, comparing the levels to what is allowed for other types of food, candy in particular, these are well above what is considered safe.

From the article:

Researchers at the Universtiy of Nevada Las Vegas recently found worryingly high levels of lead in four Mexican salsa brands that are available in some parts of the U.S.

Researchers at UNLV said that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration currently has no benchmark that determines which levels of lead are “unsafe” in hot sauces. But they said that these four brands had lead levels which exceeded 0.1 parts per million, which is the current FDA standard for “safe” lead levels in candy.

[…]

Fortunately, hot sauces are not usually a big part of a child´s diet. But researchers said that children from certain cultural backgrounds are accustomed to consuming them.

“Although hot sauce would not intuitively be counted amongst food products highly consumed by children, the study suggests that ethnic and cultural practices must be considered,” the researchers conclude.

What is most surprising here is not that there are contaminants coming in food items in this country but that the FDA does not test for lead nor does it have any specific constraints on the levels that should appear in all types of food allowing for these contaminants to enter our country’s food sources. Yes, there are plenty of horrendous things the FDA allows into our food through additives (coloring especially) which are banned in other countries but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t stop.

Have you ever tried any of the hot sauces found to contain lead in this study? Do you assume food does not contain lead when you purchase it in a US store? Considering the low levels of hot sauces usually consumed by the average American, should this continue to be allowed or should the FDA do something to stop it? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear what you have to say.

3 Responses to “
Some Mexican Hot Sauces Contain Lead?! ”

It appears that we have found one of the benefits of a free press working for a public interest. From digging around a bit it appears that the main reason for there being a lead spec for candy is that there had been a problem with lead ink leaching through the wrapper and into the candy. In addition Mexican candy had excessive lead content. The candy limit numbers come from numbers determined for lead in granulated sugar.

It appears the FDA does no testing of other foods for lead unless a problem is identified by some other agency. Then they’ll look into it.

The limit of .1ppm is equivalent to around 10µg/dL(micrograms per deciliter). I could not find a reference on how much of that ends up in you after consumption though it appears that small amounts taken in are rejected by a healthy body.

The blood lead limit for children is 5 ug/dl. The limit for adults is 25 ug/dl. Pregnant women should have a similar limit as children.

As far as assuming there isn’t lead in food, nope, I don’t assume that. Lead is a naturally occurring (as well as we put i there) trace mineral in the soil. Traces of it can be in the air we breath as well as the food we eat. I do assume excessive levels do not exist in our food system and I’m aware that seafood can have relatively high levels of lead.

While I have not had El Pato, I do have a bottle of the one of the other three hot sauces that test high. It is in my desk right now. I’ll likely keep it around. It is rather hot and not used in large quantities.

I can’t say I’m surprised. I always cast a leery eye on anything (food related) produced in China or Mexico – I feel the standards just aren’t regulated as well as in other countries.

While I know there’s always naturally occurring lead around that probably gets in our system anyway, I try to control the things that I can, which means avoiding some things, especially for my kids who are smaller and more susceptible to toxicities. I read labels for country of origin always.